Forever staying salty

Just a block from the Daytona Beach shoreline, Salty Dog Surf Shop stands out on Florida’s A1A highway with its light blue and teal exterior and bright neon lights spelling out the Salty Dog name in the windows. The two-story building might also remind passersby of a retro beach house. Painted on the side of the building is a cool-looking cartoon pup, grinning in his shades and inviting people to step inside.

The dog motif continues inside the store as well. A golden labradoodle named Salty is the beloved mascot at the shop. Most weekdays, it’s his job to greet guests as they walk in and take selfies with them as they walk out donning new Salty Dog apparel and merchandise.

Customers might even feel like they stepped back in time a few decades as they browse the store. Aside from refreshing the merchandise, Owner Bruce Miller admits Salty Dog Surf Shop hasn’t changed much since it opened in 1978.

“The layout is very open,” he says. “The store is 5,000 square feet and spread out over two levels. It all stayed the same over the years.”

The hardwood floors and walls give off a pleasant cedar smell for customers browsing the shop for surf gear, apparel, souvenirs and more. The beach retailer has a variety of items that appeal to surfers and skaters, and people can buy or rent their boards from the shop. It also has plenty of eye-catching apparel for adults and kids alike as well as colorful drinkware, fun stickers and countless souvenirs for people to take home after their visit to Daytona Beach.

Since opening over 40 years ago, Salty Dog Surf Shop has developed a very loyal customer base among locals and tourists alike. People love the shop’s “salty dog” mascot and branded apparel. Miller notes that some tourists even like to return year after year for a Salty Dog souvenir to commemorate their time in Daytona Beach.

“So many of our customers have been coming in since they were kids, and now they bring back their own families,” he says. “Getting a new Salty Dog shirt every year has become a tradition for them.”

A Salty beginning

Miller has been surfing waves in Daytona Beach his entire life and always wanted to do something related to surfing for his career. After graduating from Florida State University in the 1970s, Miller recognized that the surf industry was growing rapidly.

“The surf industry all over the country was just starting to explode from just hard goods to full on surf retail,” he recalls. “It was the beginning of most major surf brands we know of today.”

With a booming surf industry, Miller saw an opportunity to start a surf shop in his hometown. Family pitched in to get the business started — his father had the perfect property for a surf shop on A1A in Daytona Beach, and his father-in-law gifted him capital required to open the shop.

The shop’s name also came quickly to Miller. “My nickname was ‘Salty’ in college,” he explains. “I just added ‘dog’ to it.”

Miller says the store’s original logo was drawn by local artist Paul Baliker. The idea to turn the logo into a “salty dog” cartoon character came from a suggestion made by a Daytona Beach college student. From there, the store’s branding evolved into what it is today.

In 1978, Salty Dog Surf Shop opened its doors in Daytona Beach, full of surf gear and apparel.

“When we first opened, we sold a lot of hard goods, as well as many board shorts and other cut-and-sew apparel that you could only get at a surf shop,” says Miller.

Surfers in the area helped to spread the word about Miller’s shop after it opened. Salty Dog Surf Shop’s business “really took off” after MTV began hosting Spring Break coverage in Daytona Beach in the mid-1980s, Miller recalls.

As more people became aware of the Salty Dog brand, Miller says he’s had no problem getting repeat customers. Locals and tourists alike love returning to the shop for new Salty Dog merchandise.

“Repeat customers is one of our strong points,” says Miller. “People have been coming here for decades.”

Building on branding

As a big surf shop in Daytona Beach, Miller notes that Salty Dog Surf Shop has always carried merchandise from popular surf brands such as Billabong, Jetty and O’Neill to name a few.

“We’ve bought from all the traditional name-brand surf companies since the inception of most of them,” Miller shares.

The store has also always sold surfboards, skateboards, skim boards and boogie boards to people wanting to spend time catching Daytona Beach waves. But what really sets the seaside retailer apart from other surf shops is its Salty Dog brand, which Miller says has grown in popularity over the years. The shop is full of Salty Dog name-dropped apparel, which is always a hit with customers.

Miller shares that the shop has always had its own branded shirts. Today, 70% of the store’s merchandise bears the Salty Dog branding. In addition to apparel, other merchandise featuring the Salty Dog branding includes cups, mugs, towels, keychains, magnets, tote bags and dog accessories.

Having one-of-a-kind merchandise drives customers to the shop, which Miller says is important in today’s marketplace, noting that retail has changed a lot since he first started the business in the late 1970s.

“When we first got into business, if you wanted surf-related items, you would actually have to go to a surf shop to buy it,” he explains. “As the business grew, the small retailers had to compete with all the major brands going into department stores, which diluted the market completely. At that point, our core customer was being driven further and further from the beach itself. In order to survive, we had to become more dependent on our own Salty Dog brand.”

Over the years, the retailer expanded to two additional storefronts in Ormond Beach and in Panama City, Florida.

“We opened Ormond in 1985 in order to take advantage of the local surf population,” Miller says. “Panama City opened up in 1990 because more spring breakers were heading there.”

Miller adds that the store managers at both of those locations make the calls on how they run the day-to-day operations. However, he adds, Salty Dog branded apparel is a staple at all three stores.

The next chapter

Bruce has enjoyed growing Salty Dog Surf Shop the past 46 years. He’s also enjoyed watching his kids take on ownership in the business in more recent years. Both his son, Max Miller, and daughter, Griffin Zysk, are involved as managers today.

“Having them involved has made it more fun,” Bruce says.

He adds, “My goal is to have Salty Dog mean as much to my kids and grandkids as it has meant to me.”

Max Miller has been working for Salty Dog Surf Shop since he was in his early teens and has always been learning more about the T-shirt and branding side of the business from his father. After graduation college in 2010 with a degree in supervision management from Daytona State College, Max Miller has been working full-time at the store and has been hands-on with T-shirt designs and finding new, unique brands and companies to offer at the store.

Max adds that he is hopeful his young son Saxon will join him someday in the family business.

Zysk adds that she’s enjoyed returning to work at the surf shop.

“I loved growing up in the family business. I started hanging out at the shop when I was 3 years old,” she recalls. “I worked for the business through high school and briefly after college.”

Her career began working for major brands Ralph Lauren and Luxottica. But three years ago, when her family moved to Daytona, she decided it was time to return to the family business.

But even as the next generation steps into ownership at Salty Dog, Bruce expects the shop and its brand will always retain its ’70s surf shop vibes.

As for how Bruce has kept the surf shop going for over four decades? He says it all comes down to “hard work and dedication.”

“My advice would be to have a realistic outlook about retail,” he says. “It has its ups and downs. No two years are ever the same. But if you are willing to put in the time and effort, it can be a rewarding career.”